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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214455">the last day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shudder/pseuds/shudder'>shudder</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Portal (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:42:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>844</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214455</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shudder/pseuds/shudder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Was it too late to change her mind?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caroline &amp; Chell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Juletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the last day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/gifts">The_Exile</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the big day, and she was ready. She had been preparing herself for her new life, holding onto the fact that it would be mostly the same as now. Or, that’s what Cave had told her, at least. Just a different body. She could still have time with her daughter. Chell wouldn’t have to live without her. She just might have different mothers’ days than the rest of the kids at school. The family could handle that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, sweetpea. Time to go. Do you have your jacket?” she placed her hand on her daughter’s head, for what she realized might be the last time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chell nodded, and smiled that wide-eyed, gap toothed smile kids her age always had. Caroline studied her face, unsure of the next time she’d see it. She had been informed, of course, of the details of the system she was being placed in. She was supposed to be able to see, love, and remember her family. She wasn’t ending her old life, just starting a new one. That didn’t negate the worry that her processes would be different then. That she wouldn’t have any connection to the bright smile in front of her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chell returned with the coat, holding it up proudly. “I got it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And your project?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dad said he brought the poster! He wants to get me a good spot. So I just have to bring the potato!” she threw her jacket on the couch, momentarily forgotten in the presence of something much cooler, and ran off to grab the science project. Cave and Caroline had planned this day specifically, so that her last memory with her flesh-and-blood mother would be a good one. Chell came back with the massive potato, hunched over it and pushing it across the floor. Caroline would have to clean that later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. No she wouldn’t. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She bundled the girl up in the jacket, taking extra care to remind her she loved her. “Sweetie, mom might be going away for a while today. You’ll be extra good for your dad?” her face, for what unbeknownst to her would end up being the very last time, turned upward into a smile. She was ready to say goodbye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are you going, mama? Will you bring me back a present?” Chell’s voice was sad, and it sent a shiver down Caroline’s spine. She hadn’t let herself think of what this might do to Chell, how it might affect her. She couldn’t bear the thought of her being without a mother, so she had, until now, built a story about how she could still be that mother. But she knew that wasn’t happening. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t reply to Chell’s question, just grasped her hand and led her to the car. “Come on, sweetpea. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry! We want to win don’t we?” She tried to be as chipper-sounding as possible, infusing her announcer voice into her words. Thankfully, Chell didn’t see past her exterior, and just crawled into the backseat of the vehicle. Her legs dangled, and Caroline reminded her not to kick her mother’s seat, or she’d be in trouble. She started the car and turned on the radio to drown out Chell’s questions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Was it too late to change her mind? Could she back out, say no, tell them they’ll need to find someone else? It wasn’t even clear to her how she had become the volunteer, she didn’t remember ever agreeing to it. Yet somehow, here she was, on her way to be put into a machine. The whole situation was like something out of a book. She didn’t know yet if the book had a happy ending, or a plot twist, or anything beyond this moment, for that matter. All she knew was that she had a duty to science, and to Cave, to do this. She couldn’t go back on her promise. She was to become a machine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The drive to Aperture was calm. Every so often, Chell would have a question about something, be it the color of their car or the meaning of the universe, and Caroline would answer to the best of her ability. She was still a mother, after all. For now, at least. After what felt like hours, but Caroline knew was only about twenty minutes, the two of them arrived. She helped Chell get out of the car, handed her the potato, and then they went inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The booth Cave had chosen was a wonderful spot, and Chell was near one of the girls she knew from school, so they chattered as Caroline balanced the poster and placed the potato in its spot. It struck her as odd that her last “official” motherly act was putting a potato on a table, but then she figured the whole situation was odd, to sum it up so succinctly. Nothing would ever be normal for Caroline again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chell, sweetie?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The little girl smiled at her again. “Yes, mama?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going now. I love you,” she kissed her forehead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too, mama.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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